Jaines Cord plans to kill the man who murdered her husband, even though killing a Bounty Hunter is said to be impossible. One bullet took away her livelihood, her home and her love. One bullet made by her. Fired from the gun she completed for the Arcane Bounty Hunter.

Obsidian wears the scars of disobeying the powerful Arcane Union. He barely escaped with his life and now lives quietly, in a town the lawmen forgot. When Jaines arrives asking too many questions, he's faced with a decision. Help her or run...again. Obsidian knows that if he flees he'll always be looking over his shoulder. His name is one of the first on the Bounty Hunter's death list.

Yet when Obsidian is offered an opportunity to stop the stone taking over his body in exchange for retrieving the gun, he asks Jaines for her help. Now Jaines must choose: a dead man's vengeance or a living man's hope?

Jaines has a special gift, which she uses in her practice as a Smith. As an apprentice of her husband that is, because for women, trades are forbidden. One day her husband leaves for business, and ...
(full review)

MR Review
Rating:
Reviewer: Sabine

The more I read steam punk, the more I get into it. It is a great combination of fantasy and old world magic with wonderful inventions and worlds where beautiful and yet also horrible things happen.

In Dark Vow by Shona Husk, there is lots of magic; there is death, retribution, love and also redemption. In the world created by Ms. Husk, women are secondary and it doesn’t matter to Jaines Cord because she was with her husband and she was doing something that it seemed came naturally to her. She was apprenticed to her husband, a blacksmith and got to do engraving, bullet making and lots of other things that normally women wouldn’t get to do.

Jaines was good at what she did, so good that a bounty hunter for the Arcane sought her out and the result was her husband died and all she had to live for was revenge. She finished the gun and she made the bullets, one of which killed her husband, and so, of course, she feels responsible.

Dark Vow is the story of Jaines’ journey to hunt down and kill the bounty hunter, but what she discovers along the way, may forever color the way she views her past and her dead husband. There were things that she didn’t know, which when revealed, may do more than just break her heart, they may end up being the death of her.

On her search for the bounty hunter, she comes across Obsidian, so called for his hand which progressively turns to stone every time he heals. The Arcane, a powerful society of magicians for want of a better term, put the spell on him for disobeying their rules and so he hides from them and from others. The only problem is the bounty hunter with the gun finished by Jaines is killing off Rogues, and Obsidian is likely to be next. He has two choices; one he can help Jaines or he can run and keep running forever.

I enjoyed the story, with its blend of old and new and the monster horses, but it definitely lacked fire and passion between the main characters. They just ended up together despite the fact that there were secrets Obsidian knew he was not going to tell Jaines about. Jaines and Obsidian are captured by the opposition to the Arcane and they also want the gun, but Jaines is reluctant to agree because she knows no matter who has it, there will be death and bloodshed. Jaines is willing to sacrifice herself to ensure the gun doesn’t remain in the hands of the Arcane and their bounty hunters. Can Obsidian let her sacrifice herself? What will happen when he needs to heal Jaines? Will his arm keep turning to stone?

The world in which Dark Vow is set is exciting and interesting and much more could have been explained about the various societies and what drove the civilization. The lights in the cities and how they work were an interesting sub-plot and one of the most sinister parts of the book. This would have been great if it could have been expanded on and woven into Obsidians’ story in much greater detail than it was.

Overall, this is an interesting story of revenge and love with a HEA, but the ending definitely leaves it open for a continuation. I will be keeping an eye out and if there is a sequel, plan to read it. Get yourself a copy of Dark Vow and see what you think!

* Disclosure: Reviewers are compensated for book reviews.

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